Mechanical stoker.



W. T. HANNA.

MECHANICAL STOKER. APPLICATION FILED JULY22, 1912.

Patented May 30,1916.

. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- Ina/en for Q 7/z wa @W witness's? ED STATES PATENT OFFIC 1 WILLIAM T. HANNA, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR. TO THE MECHANICAL CON- STRUCTION COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

MECHANICAL STOKEB.

Application filed July 22, 1912'. Serial No. 710,857.

, To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. HANNA, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mechanical Stokers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full' clear, and exact description thereof.

.without encumbering the deck of the cab,

My invention relates to mechanical stokers, and is particularly concerned with improved means for effecting what is known as crossfiring, that is to say, distributing fuel successively to different parts of the furnace preferably in regular and symmetrical order, so that while the fuel in one portion is undergoing what is known as coking, the

.fuel bed at other portions is giving off its highest percentage of heat units. This oper-. ation of cross-firing in its most effective form, theoretically, consists in depositing fuel at different diametrically opposite points successively around the periphery of the box, at the same time maintaining an adequate fuel bed at the center of the box, the most effective fuel bed being that which is of uniform depth, say, from 6 to 9 inches, and having a substantially level surface.

The invention has further for its object, means for readily modifying the order of distributing of the fuel, so that in case one part of the fuel bed burns more rapidly than another the fuel may be directed to that point, thus maintaining the uniform depth and level surface of the bed.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for the feed and distribution of the fuel-by mechanical means without in any manner blocking the usual fire door or interfering with hand stoking, and

where the apparatus is applied as a loco- .motive 'stoker.

With these objects in view, the invention. consists in a construction and arrangement of parts, a preferred embodiment of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a rear view of a locomotive boiler and furnace showing the invention in conjunction therewith. Fig. 2 is a sectionalview on the line 2-2 Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of one of the distributor nozzles; and Fig. 4 is 'a similar view of a bearing ring of a distributing nozzle.

In the embodiment of my invention herein selected for illustration, the locomotive bo1ler 1 is provided with the-usual fire-box 2 having the fire-door opening 3 provided with the usual fire-door at. To receive the apparatus of my invention, the rear walls of the fire-box and boiler are apertured as at 5 and fitted with a sleeve 6 suitably rlveted in place. Within and through each of these sleeves, which are-preferably two or more in number, is inserted a feed and dlstributing nozzle 7 cut away at its inner end, as at 8, for ready egress of the fuel, and hav ng above this cut away portion a downwardly deflecting guiding face 9 to direct the fuel to the proper portions of the fire-box, and particularly to prevent the fuel from being shot into the tubes of the boiler. Eachfeed nozzle is provided preferably with a rear flange 10 having an annular rib 11 which engages within an annular groove 12 of a suitable bearing plate 18 which in turn may be secured to the boiler plates in any suitable manner, as by the lugs 14 and the screws or bolts 15. By this construction, the nozzles are rotatably mounted so that when suitably rotated by the mechanism as hereinafter to be described, the fuel fed through them may be directed to any desired point or points of the fire-box.

Communicating with each nozzle is a fuel conduit 16 which may be led down from any suitable form of hopper located in the upper portion of the cab, ud supplied with fuel by any suitable means either-manually or by suitable conveyer. from the fuel supply in the tender. duits at points opposite the fuel nozzles are provided with the fluid jets 17 connected with the fluid supply pipelS leading to the boiler 1. As the fuelfeeds down through the coiduits 16 into the distributing nozzle 7 past the fluid jet' 17,, jet 'forcibly drives the fuel either. f "j fi or; ir te-.1111 r ddi fuel may drop fromTthe-nozzle practically vertically .to the forward end 'ofjthe, firebox.

The distribution of fuel either to the rear or front of the fire-box may be readily controlled by varying the fluid pressure. In order, furthermore, to control the distribution of the fuel laterally and to direct the sameto any particular point or points at either side of the fire-box at the will of the provided to prevent backward movement of said ratchet wheel. 'Links 24 and 25 cccentrically mounted upon the shaft of the ratchet wheel 21 operate respectively the crank arms 26 and 27 fixed to shafts 28 and 29, respectively, journaled in suitable fixed bearings, said shafts having rock arms 30 and 31, respectively, each provided with a laterally projecting friction roll 32, each of which engages a slot 33 in a rocking block 31%, each of which blocks is secured by a crank connection (not shown) on the shaft v35 of operating lever 36. The opposite ends .of said rocker blocks 34 respectively are connected by rods 37 and 38 to the parts to be operated or oscillated. The mechanism just described is all clearly disclosed in my Patent No. 991,614, dated May 9, 1911, and no claim is here specifically made to this structure. In this particular instance, the operating links or rods 37 and 38 are connected with the flanges 10 of the oscillating nozzles 7 hereinbefore described, whereby said nozzles may be rotated or oscillated to deflect the feed of the fuel to the several parts in the fire-box. lBy fixing the controller handles 36 of the controlling mechanism described in the positions shown in Fig. 1, it is obvious that the nozzles will be given their greatest range of oscillation and also that they will be oscillated simultaneously in opposite directions, but the range of oscillation may be varied. by altering the position of the controller handles'36 and consequently of the controller mechanism, so that both of said nozzles may be directing fuel toward the same point simultaneously, or each constantly toward diflerent points in the fuel bed, but in fact the order of distribution and the quantity of fuel fed to difl'erentparts of the fire-box may be altered Without limit. Thus my invention provides a construction which insures not only the most scientific distribution of fuel to the fire-box, but is so flexible that any unequal combustion taking place in the firebed may be readily met. Furthermore, the apparatus is entirely out of the way of the fire-door of the boiler, and entirely free of the deck, for example, of a locomotive.

While I have herein described a particular embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the same may be altered in detail and in the arrangement of parts within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

In an automatic stoker, the combination with a fire-box and fuel supply, of a plurality of movable fuel feed and distribut ing nozzles respectively entering the firebox adjacent each side thereof, each of said nozzles having a surface for deflecting the fuel in the general direction of the grate bars, and for deflecting the fuel'away from the tubes of the boiler, controlling means whereby said nozzles may be rotated to alter the feed of the fuel at will of the opera- WILLIAM r. HANNA. Witnesses RALPH G. PownLL, JOHN I. WILL. 

